Following the recent shootings in Jewish schoolsthe federal government plans to organize a national forum to fight against anti-Semitism in the country.
The forum will be held in Ottawa in February 2025 to “discuss the growing threat that anti-Semitism poses to public safety.” announced the Department of Justice of Canada on Friday.
“Canada has seen a worrying increase in anti-Semitic incidents, threats and hate crimes,” the ministry said.
“The Government of Canada recognizes the urgent need for national leadership to ensure that Canadian Jews feel safe in their synagogues, schools and communities.
The Minister of Justice, the Attorney General, and the Minister and Associate Minister of Public Safety will co-chair the forum next year.
Federal, provincial and municipal leaders, as well as law enforcement and prosecutors will also be in attendance.
The announcement comes after the third filming this year at the same Jewish girls’ school in Toronto, police reported Friday.
Shots were fired Friday morning at Bais Chaya Mushka primary school in the north of the city.
Police said the school was empty at the time of the shooting and no injuries were reported.
The all-girls institution was targeted a second time in October, on Yom Kippur, with shots fired from a vehicle on Chesswood Drive, striking the window, according to police.
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A few days later, police announced the arrests of a 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy in connection with the shooting.
This incident followed another shooting in May, in which two suspects shot at the school around 5 a.m. on a Saturday.
Also in May, Montreal Jewish school hit by gunfire and a West Island synagogue was targeted by a suspected arson earlier this week.
In August, more than 100 synagogues, Jewish organizations and doctors in several cities across the country received the same threatening email.
The email contained threats of death and physical harm and stated that the goal was to sow “terrorism.”
Intelligence documents recently obtained by Global News has warned of “an escalation of anti-Semitic activity,” saying an extremist attack targeting Canada’s Jewish community is a “realistic possibility.”
Released nearly a year after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that sparked an Israeli military response in Gaza and Lebanon, the reports show that national security analysts fear anti-Jewish sentiment could lead to terrorism.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Canada more than doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to an annual audit by the Jewish human rights group B’nai Brith Canada and released in May.
During the audit, the group recorded 5,791 incidents that meet the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. This represents an increase of 109% compared to 2022, when there were 2,769 incidents.
All incidents reported in the audit saw a significant increase after October 2023, following the Hamas attack on Israel and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
–with files from The Canadian Press and Global News
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